Glass of Win

I had my first real, home baked Key Lime Pie a couple of years ago and I’ve been craving it since. I tried to persuade various family and friends to let me have a go at a Key Lime Pie for their birthdays, but my suggestion was always met with skepticism and an instance that they did not like Key Lime Pie (Mother.). I was going to have to make it for my own birthday. Well, fine.

The recipe I found on Epicurious was so easy I kept thinking my printer cut off half of the directions when I hit print. I kept asking myself Is this it? during and after the process. An experienced recipe hunter, I’m also always vary careful to read a good chunk of the reviews to make sure additions and alterations haven’t become the norm with others following. Not the case. This recipe really is this easy with a fantastically tasty payoff.

(By the way, my mom loved it.)

KEY LIME PIE
source: Gourmet May 2003 via Epicurious

Crust
1 1/4 cups graham cracker crumbs (9 crackers)
2 tablespoons sugar
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Mash your graham crackers into fine crumbs
Using a fork, stir together graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and butter in a bowl until well combined
Press mixture evenly onto bottom and up side of a 9-inch glass or ceramic pie pan.

Bake crust in middle of oven 10 minutes and cool in pie plate on a rack.

Filling
1 can sweetened condensed milk (14 oz)
4 large egg yolks
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons fresh or bottled Key lime juice

Whisk together condensed milk & yolks in a bowl until combined.
Add juice and whisk until well incorporated

Pour filling into crust
Bake in middle of oven 15 minutes.
Cool pie completely on rack (filling will set as it cools)
Chill, covered, at least 8 hours.

Topping
3/4 cup chilled heavy whipping cream

Prior to serving, beat cream in a bowl with an electric mixer until it just begins to form stiff peaks.

Top pie with cream and enjoy!

NOTES
I had to use bottled juice; Volcanic Lime Burst made from organic Mexican limes.

Do NOT, I repeat, do not substitute pre-made graham cracker crust for making your own. It’s a simple enough process, unlike making your own pie crust dough, so just do us all a favor and don’t cut corners. You’ll thank me later.

Do not add sugar to your cream! My aunt was horrified that I wasn’t adding sugar (and double checked my recipe to make sure I wasn’t goofing up). I assure you, the cream is the perfect accompaniment to your already sweet & tart pie.

Don’t waste your egg whites; save them to make an egg-white omelet for breakfast!

I write for Visit the Place Los Angeles – a magnificent guide and resource for folks visiting sunny SoCal. One of the many ways that makes The Place a unique publication is they have separate issues for Los Angeles, Orange and San Diego County’s – each county having its own fair share of information for visitors.

I am fortunate enough to write about my #1 passion: food! Thus far, the crown in my foodie gem is my latest write up about Bar Pintxo a Santa Monica based tapas bar. It was so insanely delicious, even Boyfriend has been trying to find any excuse to return!

You can read my article One Scrumptious Summer in the digital edition of The Los Angeles County’s visitor guide RIGHT HERE!

*coughwheezehack* A history of ear infections should have schooled me that when I swim I need to immediately take care of my ears afterward. You would think, right? Except that I am lazy. Extremely lazy. If my health isn’t LIFE OR DEATH! I tend to let “little things” like ears slide. So now I am paying for it with a summer cold.
As chicken soup can only go so far, there are other, healthier meals to turn to to build up the white blood cells (which I rather desperately need right now) and give my system a nice boost. Salmon is probably the best meat protein for the job.
I didn’t always like salmon (cooked, because I love salmon sashimi) – in fact, I downright avoided it like the plague – but now that I have perfected a simple way of cooking it, I positively love it!

POACHED SALMON
Season fresh salmon fillet with a pinch of sea salt

In a deep pan or Dutch oven add:
2 c. white wine
2 c. water
1 coarsely chopped shallot (alt: onion)
garlic (and lots of it)
chopped carrots (alt: 5-10 baby carrots)
3 bay leaves
2 sprigs of fresh rosemary
5-10 leaves of fresh sage
pinch of sea salt
Optional: slice or two of lemon, fresh dill

Bring all of this to a nice boil, reduce heat to simmer and add your salmon fillets, fish side facing up.

Cover pan, simmer until salmon is cooked through – about 5-15 minutes, depending on the thickness of the salmon.

Once done, plate up and sprinkle fish with freshly diced chives. You can eat the carrots, too! I also served this with roasted asparagus and mushrooms.

NOTES: I recommend thick cuts of salmon for poaching because it cooks incredibly quick and is easily overcooked. Plus, it’s a meaty, tasty fish that’s good for you.

If you don’t like to eat salmon plain, here is a quick and simple sauce for dipping:

DILL & CHIVE SAUCE:
2 TBS plain yogurt (alt: sour cream)
diced fresh chives
sprinkling of dill (I use dried)
squeeze of lemon juice

Mix it all up and use as a dipping sauce or spread on salmon directly.

Oh, peaches, how I love them (and I’m not talking about the band). However, due to my hypothyroid, the medicine I have to take for it and fate having a hearty laugh, I can only indulge in peaches once in a great while – and preferably cooked. Well, thank goodness for peach dumplings, am I right? If you can stand to turn on your oven during the summer, this dish makes the perfect dessert, either for your family or, if you double it, for one of those many summer potlucks you’ve been invited to.

This recipe is so quick and simple I wouldn’t be surprised if you made it a couple of times throughout peach season. Now, I realize the inclusion of Bisquick is going to dock me some serious foodie points but I’m sticking to it.

PEACHES ‘N’ DUMPLINGS

Ingredients
Bisquick (1 cup)
Milk (1 cup – if using soy/almond/rice milk, make it 3/4ths cup)
5-6 large peaches (seed removed, cut into chunks but not peeled)
Butter (1/4th cup, melted)
Cinnamon (1 tsp. at least)
Nutmeg (1 tsp. at least)
Pumpkin Pie spice (optional, but I use it)
Agave nectar (1 tablespoon)
Honey (1 tablespoon)

Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees
Mix the Bisquick and milk together
Add the melted butter
Add the cinnamon, nutmeg and pumpkin pie spice
Incorporate well and scrape mixture into an ungreased 8×8 baking dish.
In a separate bowl, coat the peaches with the agave and honey.
Place the peaches in the baking dish on top of the Bisquick mixture – DO NOT MIX THEM IN!
Put dish in oven, bake for 35-45 minutes (depending on your oven)

Dumplings should rise and have a nice golden brown color.

Meatloaf is one of those staples that has a pretty bad rap because it’s easy to be careless and do a half-ass job. It’s the butt of every cafeteria/canteen joke and is often overlooked as a dinner option for budding chefs.
Shame on you.
I’m here to say that meatloaf can be a delicious meal if properly prepared.

As most of you are aware, I hardly ever measure. It’s all to taste.

Ingredients:
Mushrooms (whole package, stems removed, reserve about 3-4)
2 shallots
Garlic cloves (I used about 6)
Fresh basil
Fresh rosemary – leaves plucked from stem
Fresh sage
Small carrot (sliced)

Pulse the above items in a food processor – make sure to PULSE into finely minced pieces and not processes into liquidy pulp!

Scrape contents into a large mixing bowl and add:
- Pepper
- Sea salt
- Fennel seed
- Ground allspice
- Ground mustard
- Herbs de Provence
- Oregano

Add your ground meat (I used ground sirloin, but you can use turkey, lamb, veal, pork or any combo of these)

Add breadcrumbs (homemade is best but I had a canister of them lying around so I just added about 3/4th cup)
1 egg

Mix ingredients together
Add:
- Worcestershire sauce
- Red wine
- Drop of liquid hot sauce if you like it spicy

Incorporate ingredients well

Stuff your mixture in a loaf pan sprayed well with cooking spray.

OPTIONAL: Line the bottom of your loaf pan with parchment paper
OPTIONAL: Top your loaf with a sauce of your choice (BBQ or whatever)

Slice the mushrooms your reserved and place them atop your loaf before covering with aluminum foil
Stick loaf pan on a cookie sheet and place in oven
Bake at 350 degrees for 45-60 minutes

Enjoy with veggies! This makes GREAT leftovers – especially for sandwiches!

My friend Tori was gracious enough to share this tasty sangria recipe with us for Tasty Tuesday. Sangria happens to be my #1 favorite alcoholic drink (with Champagne, PBR, Heffenweisen and fuzzy navels close in second). Enjoy! – R

Sangria – the best drink for summer days or sitting in your apartment and trying to pretend you’re in the Hawaiian Islands on vacation. This is my own recipe for the perfect fruity, delicious, and booze-filled sangria.

You’ll Need:
1 bottle light rum
1 bottle cheap red zinfandel
1 bottle cheap white zinfandel
2 pears
1 orange
1 lemon
1 lime
1 3/4 cups of sugar
a large pitcher or container

Step One:
Take a shot glass and the rum and pour yourself a rum and coke. The sangria won’t be ready for about 24 hours, you know.

Step Two:
Cut up fruit. The pears are the crucial part of this recipe so use at least two. More is fine. Also, you can add an apple if you have one around. Put them in the pitcher until it’s half full or until you’re out of fruit. Dump sugar on top of the fruit.

Step Three:
Measure out 1 1/2 to 2 cups of rum and pour it over the fruit. Then pour in both bottles of wine.

But don’t get excited yet. If you take a sip, it’ll taste like strong cheap wine. It needs to sit for about 24 hours in your fridge so it can absorb the fruit flavors. After that, you want to pull the fruit out or it gets nasty and rots. Trust me, I learned that the hard way.
Is it covered?
Is it in your fridge?
Good.
Clean up the mess, enjoy your rum and coke, and tomorrow you can have a nice, refreshing glass of sangria.

QUESTION: WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE SUMMER BEVERAGE?

Hey, this is Matt from over at FaveDiets.com. Now that June is upon us, all I can think about is summer. Yes, summer doesn’t officially start for a few more weeks, but the warm weather means one thing to me – summer potlucks. Whether for potlucks, picnics or barbecues, summer is all about entertaining and being with friends and loved ones.

The problem is, a lot of typical summer fare isn’t always the healthiest for you. Barbecue sandwiches, corn cobs covered in butter and mayonnaise-heavy potato salads aren’t exactly great fare for those of us trying to be healthy and lose weight. But you can still enjoy your summer celebrations with healthy recipes that overflow with flavor. Here are two of the best potluck recipes for your summer.

POTLUCK POTATO SALAD WITH BEER

Serves: 12

Cooking Time: 1 hr

Ingredients

* 3 pounds potatoes
* 2 cups diced celery
* 1 small onion, chopped
* salt, to taste
* 1 cup fat-free mayonnaise
* 2 tablespoons prepared mustard
* 1/4 tablespoon hot pepper sauce
* 1/2 cup beer
* 2 tablespoons chopped parsley

Instructions

1. Cook potatoes in skins until tender (bake about an hour at 350 degrees F).

2. When cool, peel and dice.

3. Add celery and onion and season to taste with salt.

4. Blend mayonnaise with mustard and hot pepper sauce; gradually stir in beer. Add parsley.

5. Pour over potato mixture. Mix lightly with fork. Chill.

NO-MAYO FRUIT AND TUNA SALAD

Serves: 2

Preparation Time: 5 min

Ingredients

* 6 ounces tuna in water, canned, drained
* 1 cup seedless grapes, halved
* 1/2 cup purchased shredded cabbage with carrot (coleslaw mix)
* 1/3 cup lemon low fat yogurt
* 2/3 cup purchased shredded cabbage with carrot (coleslaw mix)
* 2 medium peaches, pitted and sliced

Instructions

1. Combine half of the grapes and the 1/2 cup shredded cabbage mixtures in a small bowl. Stir in the yogurt.

2. Line 2 serving plates with remaining 2/3 cup shredded cabbage mixture.

3. Spoon tuna mixture on top. Serve with peach slices and remaining grapes.

Enjoy! For more great summer recipes be sure to check in to FaveDiets.com daily.

I recently came into a grep of lemons and have been trying to figure out what to do with them. Well, what to do differently since my go-to recipe is always lemon bars. I was in luck as DecemberThirty on the Livejournal community food_porn posted this tasty lemon cornmeal cake that was a big hit with my family! Recipe posted with permission. Enjoy!

LEMON CORNMEAL CAKE
original recipe by decemberthiry

1 cup flour
1/2 cup cornmeal
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 stick unsalted butter
zest of one lemon
1/2 c. honey
1/4th c. sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup yogurt (alt: sour cream)
1 tsp vanilla
juice of a whole lemon

Preheat oven to 350.
Stir together dry ingredients and set aside.
Beat butter until smooth, then add lemon zest and sugar and beat until fluffy.
Add eggs one at time.
Beat in sour cream and vanilla, then add lemon juice. Fold in dry ingredients in three stages, folding until just incorporated.
Bake in a 9″ round pan for about half an hour.
The cake will be quite pale when it’s done, so be careful not to over bake it!

Optional: dust with powder sugar once completely cooled.

Oh, breakfast. My favorite meal of the day. When I don’t have a tasty breakfast I’m in a rotten mood for hours. I love playing around with new flavors with regards to pancakes and French Toast because they’re the most versatile of the breakfast assortments and adapt rather favorably to new twists. Try this variant on an old breakfast favorite. Super easy and big payoff!

CITRUS VANILLA FRENCH TOAST
with raspberry sauce!

Raspberry Sauce:
1 basket of fresh raspberries
OR
1 bag of frozen organic raspberries, thawed with lukewarm water or a few hours in the fridge.

Puree raspberries in your blender until smooth. Run through a chinois (fine mesh sieve) to remove seeds.

Place raspberry puree in a small saucepan.

Add either agave nectar, molasses OR Karo corn syrup (to taste, just to cut up the tartness of the raspberries and add a little thickness)

Stir constantly over a low-medium heat, do not boil. Remove from heat when it has reached your preference of sweet/tart and your preference of consistency.

Lemon
In a wide bowl, mix:
1 egg (lightly beaten)
1/2 c. milk
1-2 tsp. vanilla extract
zest of a small lemon

Drench your favorite kind of French Toast bread in the mixture, fry up in a small non-stick pan (or skillet lightly coated with cooking spray). Cook until golden brown on both sides, plate up.
Drizzle raspberry sauce on top.

Optional: serve with mint garnish and/or a dusting of powder sugar.

Orange
In a wide bowl, mix:
1 egg (lightly beaten)
2 TBS milk
1/3rd c. orange juice
2 tsp. vanilla extract
zest of a small orange

Cook as you would regular French Toast. Garnish with orange wedges. Serve and enjoy!